Showdown on casinos

State board deluged with comments from proponents, opponents

By James M. Odato

Published
10:53 pm EDT, Monday, September 22, 2014

Different groups both for and against casinos put forth their thoughts during a public hearing on the location of casinos in the area Monday morning, Sept. 22, 2014, at the Holiday Inn Turf on Wolf Road in Colonie, N.Y. (Skip Dickstein/Times Union) less

Different groups both for and against casinos put forth their thoughts during a public hearing on the location of casinos in the area Monday morning, Sept. 22, 2014, at the Holiday Inn Turf on Wolf Road in ... more

Different groups both for and against casinos put forth their thoughts during a public hearing on the location of casinos in the area Monday morning, Sept. 22, 2014, at the Holiday Inn Turf on Wolf Road in Colonie, N.Y. (Skip Dickstein/Times Union) less

Different groups both for and against casinos put forth their thoughts during a public hearing on the location of casinos in the area Monday morning, Sept. 22, 2014, at the Holiday Inn Turf on Wolf Road in ... more

Two pictures vividly emerged before the state Gaming Commission's casino siting board on Monday, one of a rural community crying for a big gambling house as a neighbor and another of a suburban region repelled by the notion.

Dozens of people donning yellow T-shirts called for "opportunity" for Schoharie County during a public comment hearing. They supported a project the owner of Howe Caverns and his partner, Full House Resorts, propose. They came in buses or ran 37 miles from Howes Cave or rode in caravans on motorcycles or Cobleskill firefighting trucks. They cheered "What time is it?" and chanted "It's our time!" frequently during the first of three sessions the state is conducting on the proposed expansion of legalized gambling. The board heard presentations from the bidders earlier this month.

The loud support from the western gateway to the Capital Region at the home of the Howe Caverns tourist attraction contrasted sharply with the heavy opposition from scores of people from the eastern gateway of the region. These "Save East Greenbush" members held signs and paraded representatives to the microphone to urge the five Gaming Facility Location Board to rule out a casino license for their suburban town.

Jennifer Corso, one of the opponents of the Capital View Casino project proposed by Saratoga Harness and Churchill Downs, displayed a letter showing that the state attorney general's public integrity bureau recently wrote that they accepted her complaint and would look into actions of East Greenbush government in endorsing the Capital View project.

The differing campaigns overshadowed largely supportive pitches for projects proposed in Schenectady and Rensselaer, which had their own individuals with different T-shirts applauding and telling stories of depressed urban areas needing help.

The Howes Cave casino proponents loaded the hearing room for much of the day. Some of the anti-casino group in East Greenbush began chanting with the Schoharie County residents, saying they deserve the license.

Kevin Law, chairman of the location board, joked that it appeared a "coalition" had been built.

He told a reporter that the passionate speeches for and against projects are important to the deliberations of his board members, who intend to make recommendations next month. But he said it could take a little longer to complete due diligence on up to four casino licenses in three zones of upstate. The board is considering four applications in the Capital Region, three in the Finger Lakes/Southern Tier and nine in the Hudson Valley/Catskills.

"I've learned a lot today," Law said. He noted that 70 percent of the ranking of a project involves its economic development impact, 20 percent on how the locale will be affected and 10 percent on workforce issues. "For that 20 percent, hearings like this are tremendously helpful," Law said.

He told the crowd during a day of 145 speakers and 11 hours of testimony that "we have no doubt that Schoharie County wants a casino," drawing hurrahs from the crowd of Howes Cave backers. He also said he got the message from opponents of the East Greenbush plan for Thompson Hill, thanking one of the foes of the project for educating the board. The Schenectady project received about three dozen endorsements, many from elected leaders and economic development officials from Schenectady and Montgomery counties.

Robert von Hasseln, Amsterdam's economic development director, said the City Council and mayor of Amsterdam enthusiastically back the riverside project in Schenectady as a regional job creator that would benefit many hard-hit regions.

A centrally located casino in Schenectady, he said, would provide "economic justice" for the western outskirts of the Capital Region, which are often overlooked.

Many speakers came to praise Rush Street Gaming and its proposed project along the Mohawk River, a $330 million investment to create the Rivers Casino at Mohawk Harbor. But Unite HERE, the union that's been trying to organize Rush Street casinos in Pennsylvania and Illinois, brought in a few workers who faulted the company for allowing racist comments or being uncaring about family needs or about their community. Rasaura Villanueva, a Mexican-American woman who works as a dishwasher at a Rush Street casino in Illinois, where her husband, a Mexican, works as a cook, choked up, telling how she couldn't enroll her baby on the company health plan until an open enrollment 10 months in the future.

Other employees of Rush Street gambling operations, whom the company brought to the hearing, spoke glowingly about their workplace, emphasizing that employees have voted their casino repeatedly as a best place to work. "I love what I do, and I love working for Rush Street Gaming," said Sarah Hensley, a former Philadelphia Police Department officer. She stopped working as cop after an injury and became a uniform manager at the Rush Street property called Sugarhouse Casino along the Delaware River. "I think they would be a great partner and a great thing for this area," she told a reporter.

Mayor Kathy Sheehan drew boos from opponents of an East Greenbush casino when she spoke well of that development. She has entered into an agreement with the project's developers that would result in $11 million going to a city economic development arm over 10 years from Capital View revenues.

"The only applicant that has met the letter and spirit of Governor Cuomo's directive that casino projects target areas of highest need is Capital View in East Greenbush," she said. The competing Rensselaer project along the Hudson River that would be a Hard Rock-branded casino drew the fewest people to comment.

A key supporter, Rensselaer Mayor Daniel Dwyer, testified that the project would be transformative and would very much be in keeping with the intent of Gov. Andrew Cuomo to help an economically challenged region. Albany Common Council member Ron Bailey also spoke about the importance of the Rensselaer casino's employment opportunities.

Several East Greenbush residents agreed that Rensselaer would be a better choice.

Others were not in favor of any more gambling options at all.

Susan Price, a town resident who works as an addiction counselor, said the "alleged" benefits of a casino, such as jobs, could happen at any of the sites. "If you choose to award a casino license in the Capital District, and I hope you don't, please choose a site that at least is suitable and where it's actually wanted by the residents," she said. "East Greenbush fails both conditions miserably."

Ed Gilbert, East Greenbush's deputy supervisor, said opponents' hyperbole — such as saying the project is close to a Girl Scout camp or near a private school — is astounding. He said the casino would benefit public education and provide property tax relief.

"I believe the majority of people in East Greenbush support the casino," said 30-year resident Rita McLean, one of the last speakers and one of a handful of supporters against four dozen opponents of the Capital View plan who spoke.